


down through my ribs

by torigates



Category: Sports Night
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-04
Updated: 2013-11-04
Packaged: 2017-12-31 12:19:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1031649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torigates/pseuds/torigates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan was loud. He did everything loudly. He had a loud job, he wore loud clothes, and he flirted loudly with women.</p>
            </blockquote>





	down through my ribs

  
Dan was loud. He did everything loudly. He had a loud job, he wore loud clothes, and he flirted loudly with women.

He was a loud guy.

His therapist liked to point out that he did certain things loudly to avoid dealing with certain voices, urges, and tendencies that threatened to upset the balance to which he had become accustomed. Dan asked, if that were the case, wouldn’t he hear these voices? She looked at him pointedly, as if to say, ‘that’s where the loudness comes in, Danny.’

Still, he was pretty sure that was bullshit. Dan was loud because he liked to be loud. He was an exuberant, excitable, enthusiastic guy, who just happened to express those traits through loudness.

It came then, understandably, as a bit of a shock when he fell quickly and quietly in love with Natalie.

There were a number of reasons, Dan decided, why falling in love with Natalie was a bad idea. After the dust settled, and Quo Vadimus was in charge, and Isaac retired, and Dana had his job, and Natalie had Dana’s job, and Kim had Natalie’s job, and Jeremy decided he wasn’t up for the challenge of dating his boss after all, after all that dust settled Natalie was Dan’s boss. Anyone could tell that dating one’s boss was a bad idea, and there was the fact that she viewed him as sexless as... something that had no sex appeal whatsoever.

“What’s something that has no sex appeal?” Dan asked looking up from his computer.

“A kitten,” Casey said without hesitation. He barely even looked up from his own desk. The two of them were in their office. It was just before six and they were still working on that’s night script. Or at least Dan imagined Casey was working on the show. Dan was too busy staring at the blank screen on his monitor, trying to figure out just when he had fallen in love with Natalie, and comparing himself to unsexy kittens (not that there were sexy kittens, that was exactly the point, after all).

Dan nodded. Casey still didn’t look up.

“Why are you thinking about things with no sex appeal?” Casey asked ten minutes later.

Dan looked across the room from his still blank computer screen. It didn’t help that Natalie had assigned him a segment on the build up to the FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan. Being as it was the first time the tournament was to be held in Asia it was supposed to be a big deal. Dan tried to point out that it was still a _soccer_ tournament, and likely no one cared.

“Two billion people beg to differ, Danny,” Natalie said with a grin. “Do the story.”

Dan grumbled and accepted his punishment—

“It is _not_ a punishment,” Natalie said. “It’s an assignment.” The smug look on her face, however, suggested differently.

—and pegged Natalie as a sadist (what that said about himself, he chose to ignore).

“Dan?”

Casey’s voice pulled him out of his reverie. He looked up. “Sorry, Case. What was the question?”

“Why are you thinking about things with no sex appeal?” he repeated.

“Huh?” Dan asked, still not quite in the moment.

Casey sighed and shook his head. “You’re doing it again,” he said simply.

“Doing what?” Dan asked.

Casey pushed away from his desk, and walked around to the other side so he could glare at Dan properly. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Daydreaming about Natalie,” he said simply.

They’d had this conversation many times before. Dan knew his next line. “I am not,” Dan said. He turned back to his computer screen and pretended to work.

“Are too,” Casey insisted.

“Am not,” Dan said without looking up. He hoped Casey would get the hint and leave him alone. Experience, however, indicated otherwise.

“Are—”

Dan held up a hand silencing Casey. “This could go on a while.”

“It could,” Casey agreed, nodding.

“So we should stop,” Dan said.

“We should,” Casey agreed. “But we won’t.”

“We won’t?”

“Not until you admit I’m right.” His arms were still crossed, he stared at Dan.

“You’re right,” Dan said.

“I am,” Casey agreed. He looked a little smug.

“We won’t stop.”

Casey rolled his eyes. “ _You_ need to stop this,” he said.

“Stop what?”

“Danny.”

“Casey.”

“Ask her on a date.”

Now it was Dan’s turn to roll his eyes. “That’s a bad idea, Casey, and it was a bad idea the last ten times you suggested it, and it will be a bad idea the next ten times you suggest it.”

“Danny.”

“Casey.”

“ _Danny._ ”

Dan glared.

“Fine,” Casey said, holding up his arms in mock surrender. “I wash my hands of this.”

“You wash your hands of this?”

“That’s what I said.”

“If only that were true.”

Casey didn’t say anything. He just returned to his script. Dan went back to trying to focus on soccer.

 

 

 

**+++**

 

 

 

Hours later, after the show had aired, and the credits had run, and Natalie whispered ‘Good show,’ into Casey and Dan’s mics, the team moved across the street to Anthony’s.

Dan watched from their table as Natalie swayed back and forth to the music. She was standing by the bar talking to Dana. By Dan’s count she was on her fourth drink, but Dan was on his fourth or fifth himself so he couldn’t be sure about the numbers.

“You are pathetic,” Casey’s voice sounded in his ear.

Dan jumped.

“Completely pathetic,” Casey repeated, and slid into the chair next to Dan’s at the table.

“Don’t sneak up on me, Casey,” Dan berated.

“Go ask that woman on a date,” Casey sad. “That is a woman begging to be asked out on a date.”

Dan shoved him away.

Casey shrugged. “I’m going home. Ask that woman out.”

Dan waved, and Casey went over to the women to say good night. He gave Natalie a hug, and Dana indicated she was going to leave to. The three said their goodbyes, and Dan watched as Casey and Dana walked out the bar. When the door had shut behind them, he turned his attention back to Natalie. She turned to face him, taking a long sip out of her straw. A smiled broke over her face. “Danny,” she called. “Come dance with me!”

He laughed and waved her off. “No way.”

She put her now empty drink on the bar and put her hands on her hips, her head cocked to the side. “Danny, you are dancing with me right this instant.”

He laughed and stayed where he was.

She gestured with her finger. Dan shrugged and got to his feet. She walked up to him, and put her arms around his neck, their bodies swaying back and forth. Dan circled his arms loosely around her waist, his palms on the flat of her back.

“Good show tonight, Danny,” Natalie said smiling up at him.

He grinned down at her. “Right back at you, boss.”

Natalie shook her head and pressed her face into the base of his neck. He could feel her breath coming in short spurts on his skin, and his arms tightened involuntarily around her. She mumbled something into his shirt.

“What’s that?” he asked, craning his neck to try and see her better.

“I said, it still feels strange being your boss.”

“Aw, Nat, don’t be silly,” Dan told her. “You were always the boss of me.”

Natalie grinned up at him. “Well that is true.”

The bar was nearly empty now. Kim, Elliot, and Will waved at them on their way out the door. Dan lifted a hand to see them off, and Natalie leaned far back over the arm that was still wrapped around her waist. Dan had to tighten his grip, so she wouldn’t topple over.

“Bye guys!” Natalie called with a grin. They waved back again. Dan saw Kim giving him a strange look, and he wondered how much Casey (or Dana, or _Natalie_ had told her).

“They were upside down,” Natalie said when Dan had right-side-upped her.

“I think you were the one upside down,” he said with a bit of a smile.

“Perhaps, perhaps,” he allowed, and put both her arms around his neck again. She smiled at him briefly, and put her head on his chest.

“We should think about getting you home, drunky,” Dan said.

She shook her head against his shoulder, and Dan thought he’d stay there with her as long as she wanted.

The two of them stood like that for several long moments, Natalie’s arms around his neck, her hands on his neck, her fingers tickling slightly at the base of his skull where his hair was short. Dan let himself pretend for a minute that they were actually together as a couple, and not boss and employee, friends, or whatever else they actually were. His hands were on her hips, and the two of them swayed to the music.

“Danny?” she said, her face was still pressed to his chest.

“Hm?” he asked. His chin was resting on the top of her head, and he didn’t want to move. This was nice. This was really nice.

“I forgot something at the studio.” Natalie tilted her face up. Their noses were inches apart. It would be easy for Dan to lean down and close the distance between them.

“Get it tomorrow,” he murmured, and rested his chin on her head again. He didn’t want to move from this position. He didn’t want to move away from her.

“I need it now.”

He looked down at her. “You need it now?”

“I need it now.”

Dan sighed, and took Natalie by the hand, walking the two of them over to their table. He helped her into her coat, and then ushered her out of the bar, waving good night to Jack. He gave Dan a funny look too. Dan ignored it.

“What could possibly be so important at after two in the morning?” Dan asked once they were inside the CSC building.

Natalie ignored him, and headed towards the elevators. She pushed the button the doors opened right away.

They rode the elevator in silence. Natalie stood close to Dan. So close that he had to have his arm around her waist to accommodate space for her. His hand hovered behind the small of her back, not sure if he was allowed to touch her. Not quite _trusting_ himself to touch her.

The elevator doors dinged open, and it was Natalie’s turn to take him by the hand, dragging him behind her through the dark and deserted offices. The news room looked spooky at night. Dan was so used to seeing people at their desks, on the phone with various sources, trying to get the latest stories. It was usually alive. It looked abandoned now.

The only thing the same was Natalie tearing through their space, a determined look on her face like she knew exactly where she had to be, only she wasn’t there. Not yet, anyway.

“Here we are,” Dan said once they were inside the control room. “What did you need?”

Natalie still didn’t answer him.

“Nat?” he asked.

She had her hands on the console; standing in the exact pose he had seen Dana in for so many years. The exact pose Natalie had adopted so easily when she stepped in to fill the Executive Producer role. She turned to face him.

“You,” she said, taking a step forward. Dan opened his mouth to say something, but Natalie grabbed hold of his jacket lapels and pulled him in for a kiss, and then they weren’t doing much talking.

They weren’t doing any talking.

Natalie’s hands were pressed flat on his chest, and Dan’s arms were wrapped around her waist again. Except this time he didn’t have to stop himself from pulling her close and never letting go. This time he pressed her as close to his body and he could, and Natalie moaned a little. Dan vowed to do whatever it took to get her to make that sound again.

He opened his mouth to kiss her deeper, and Natalie slid her tongue into his mouth. Dan took a couple of involuntary steps forward, only stopping when Natalie’s back hit the console. Dan pressed his body into hers, and Natalie slid her palms up his chest, slinging one around his neck. Her other hand was on his cheek, and Dan couldn’t believe his luck. Couldn’t believe they were here.

Dan lost track of how long they kissed like that, their bodies locked together, Natalie letting out little gasps and whimpers as he hit this or that sensitive spot, pulling him closer. Dan was only too happy to oblige. Finally, Natalie pulled back for a breath. That was when Dan remembered where exactly they were. He took a step back himself.

“We just made out,” he said, gesturing between the two of them.

Natalie nodded.

“We just made out in the control room.”

She nodded again.

“While drunk.”

“I’m aware of the situation, Danny,” she said. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, and Dan’s eyes dropped to check her out. When he remembered the reason why they were there in the first place, he looked back up into her eyes. Natalie had a satisfied smile on her face.

“Did you really forget something here?” he asked.

Natalie hopped onto the console, her legs dangled back and forth between them. Finally, she shook her head.

“Did you bring me here to make out with me?” he asked. “Not that I’m criticising your plan, mind you, it’s a great plan. I am a huge fan of the plan, but is that why you brought me here, because I gotta tell you, Nat—”

“Danny.” She said his name low and quiet, and Dan wanted to make her say his name like that all the time. He wanted to make her say his name like that every day for the rest of his life.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at her. “I’ve been throwing myself at you for weeks, and you haven’t seemed to notice. I thought this might get your attention.”

Dan took the step forward to close the space between them. He put his hands on either side of her face, and leaned in, kissing her slowly and deeply. She grabbed hold of his tie, which had been loosened hours ago, but was still hanging uselessly around his neck, and hooked one knee around behind his legs, fitting the two of their bodies close together.

“So you did bring me here to make out with me,” Dan said when they broke apart again. Natalie was still sitting on the console, and her legs were on either side of his hips. It was taking a lot of willpower Dan didn’t know he had not to have sex with her right there in the studio.

“That was plan A,” she said with a bit of a grin.

He smiled down at her. “What was plan B?”

Her grin turned a little bit evil. “I’d blow you in your anchor chair.”

Dan actually went weak in the knees a little bit. “What?” he choked out.

Her grin was pure evil now. She tugged on his tie again, running her hand down the length of it and then alternating with her other. “Come on, Danny, don’t tell me you haven’t fantasized about these things. You sitting in your chair,” she trailed off a little, her hands falling to his belt buckle. “Me between your legs,” she undid the buckle and fly. “Sucking on your dick.” Her hand was in his pants.

Dan groaned a little, and her hand tightened around him, stroking him.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about these things,” she grinned up at him, and pressed a few kisses to the underside of his jaw, his chin. She licked a long stripe up along his neck to behind his ear, and Dan’s hips bucked forward. “Maybe you’re on air,” she continued. “Trying to do your show with Casey.”

“Don’t-don’t bring Casey into this,” he managed.

She shrugged and sucked on his earlobe. “Whatever you want, Danny,” she whispered. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

He kissed her fiercely then. He pushed his hands under her shirt, stroking the soft skin of her stomach, and enjoying the feel of the muscles dancing under his touch. He revelled in the feel of her skin, slipping his arms around behind her and unclasping her bra. He pushed the garment up, and stroked his hands over her breasts. Natalie gasped when his fingers brushed over her nipples, arching into his touch.

“I want you,” he told her. “I want you, Nat.”

Her hand was still down his pants, and she squeezed his cock. He choked a little, and pressed forward into her touch. “I did have a sneaking suspicion,” she said with a bit of a grin.

“You are an evil woman,” he told her, and kissed her again.

 

 

 

+++

 

 

 

After, lying on the couch in Dan and Casey’s office, Dan smiled down at her. “I think we should go on a date,” he said.

“Who says I want to date you?” Natalie asked and stuck her tongue out at him.

He licked her neck, and she shuddered against him. “I thought that was the whole point of bringing me here.”

“No, the whole point of bringing you here was to use you shamelessly for your body and then ditch you.” She grinned.

Dan held his hand over his heart. “Well, in that case...” He rose as if to leave. Natalie grabbed his arm, and pulled him back down against her.

“You’re not going anywhere,” she said.

Dan kissed her again, and tickled her ribs. She shrieked and pushed him away. “Stop that,” she said. “Or no more sex in the office.”

Dan stopped immediately. “About that...” he trailed off. “I don’t think we should tell Casey we had sex on this couch.”

She grinned. “Deal.”

(Of course, it was _Dana_ who told Casey about the sex. It didn’t help that Casey was actually sitting on the couch when he got the news. It also didn’t help when Dan pointed out that he just did what Casey had told him, and why was he looking at him like that?

Casey made Dan buy a new couch. Dan didn’t mind.)


End file.
